A recent New York Times’ report told of the value of rubber flooring in small, separate houses for the elderly known as granny pods (granny flats in Australian). The rubber greatly reduces the impact of falls, so much so that an egg dropped from a foot and half up in the air doesn’t break. The cushioning power of rubber has other uses as well, including absorbing the shocks and vibrations caused by in-use weight lifting and exercise equipment.
Weight training is a popular discipline that builds the strength and increases the elasticity of your muscular system.Weight lifters use a great variety of specialized machines to work on specific muscles and to facilitate particular bodily movements. Whether for the purpose of sports training, bodybuilding, meeting work-related requirements, or just for general health and well-being, weight trainers all use many of the same equipment: dumbbells, barbells, stack machines, plate loaded machines, pull up bars, steppers, elliptical machines, and of course weights. Weight enthusiasts want to concentrate on their reps, sets, proper exercise form, proper breathing and hydration, stretching, warm ups, and all the stuff they love and not be distracted by noisy equipment. Nor do they wish to be burdened by the cost of replacing high-priced equipment before its time because of an accidental drop on a concrete floor or from continued pressure due to moving and vibrating of the machine during use. There is enough stress involved in the exercising and weight training itself without the added stress of worrying about your equipment or about damaging a hardwood floor that your equipment sits on. Rubber flooring provides an excellent solution to these dilemmas and is standard in the weight lifting world.
Besides protecting the equipment, rubber floors protect the people using the equipment. According to Treadall Gym Flooring & Gym Mats, “doing squats, sit ups, push ups, and stretches on a concrete or other hard-surfaced floor is unpleasant and not good for you. Rubber floor tiles, roll-out flooring, or rubber mats can cushion your body against the hard floor and give a bounce-back effect that helps you keep going.” Even walking and standing on hard floors for extended periods can cause foot and body fatigue and soreness- all the more is a rubber floor to be desired then when doing weight lifting or aerobics. You want to get tired out from good, hard weight lifting, not from the wear on you of a hard floor surface.
Rubber flooring is skid, water, fire and stain resistant. It is easy to install, whether from straight cut or puzzle cut tiles, or roll-out flooring. It is available in widths from 8 mm to 3/4 of an inch. Its tiles are tight-fitting and can be easily taken up again if one wishes to to only use a room temporarily as a weight room. For more permanent use, the rubber can be easily glued down. Rubber is relatively soft for a flooring material and helps reduce fatigue. Patterned tops increase traction, and non-skid bottoms keep loose laid mats in place. Rubber floors reduce noise within rooms and between stories. These products are affordable and easy to find. They are the most popular choice for weight room flooring.
Rubber flooring in a weight room or gym protects the investment you have made in your equipment, shields the floor beneath from damage, keeps you safer and more energetic while working out, keeps you focused on exercising and not on vibrations and sliding machines, and keeps you from keeping your neighbor up all night listening to weight room produced noises. The rubber flooring offered today comes in many colors, sizes, and thicknesses- so you will have plenty of choices if you decide to install a rubber floor. The rubber floor market is expanding rapidly these days into retail, home, horse stall, and other uses, but one of the most traditional uses- for weight lift training and machinery- remains one of the most logical and popular.
